The popular central city market outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was teeming with tourists and locals when the massive black truck came barreling through the market — toppling tables and upending wooden stands.

Shoppers had little time to react as the rig roared through at what one witness described as 40 mph — picking off panicked pedestrians before coming to a destructive halt.

“I think everybody thought there was a terrorist attack happening,” witness Shandana Durrani, who was 20 feet away from the truck when it rammed several market stalls, told CNN.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘attack’ yet at the moment, although a lot speaks for it,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told ARD television. “There is a psychological effect in the whole country of the choice of words here, and we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation.”

But diplomats and leaders from other countries wasted no time condemning the attack.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a strongly worded statement that the incident “appears to have been a terrorist attack.”

A knocked over tree is seen next to the truck that crashed into a Christmas market at Gedächniskirche church in Berlin on Monday.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany, which has killed and wounded dozens,” Price said in a statement.

“Germany is one of our closest partners and strongest allies, and we stand together with Berlin in the fight against all those who target our way of life and threaten our societies.”

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted about the attack before issuing an official statement.

“Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. ISIS and other Islamic terrorists continuously slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad,” Trump said in the statement.

“These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.”